Contents

Background

One of the most unsafe mines in Appalachia, Kerwood mine has been already barely holding together before the resource crisis and the increasing coal demand due to the Sino-American War did it no favors. Miners were working around the clock to tear the black gold from the Appalachians, trying to make a living before they're inevitably replaced by robots - or killed in the aftermath of AMS' experimental underground nuclear tests meant to accelerate production. Foreman Sam Bailey started his job just as the situation was getting worse, in August 2077.[1]

The problems were made even worse by the fact that the mine's fire boss, Roy Kerwood, was untouchable and could do anything, including embezzling funds intended for miners. The foreman's repeated attempts to get him removed consistently floundered on the rocks of nepotism. Ever thankful for simply having a job in the economy, by September he was gripped by a fear that the mine would be his death. By October 17, the premonition proved to be quite accurate: AMS' nuclear detonations caused a quake in the mine, collapsing half the tunnels of the mine instantly, together with the main mine shaft, killing 17 miners instantly and trapping another 32 deep in the mine after the lower network was flooded. The radioactive contamination made any rescue attempt impossible and neither Bailey nor the structural engineer knew how to attempt a rescue. Breaking through the locker room into the old shaft didn't help either, as that was flooded too.[2]

No rescue was made and the miners died, alone and abandoned. After the Great War, Bailey holed up in the mine, with nowhere else to go. He had a bit of supplies, a bottle of whiskey, and constant company from what seemed to be screams coming down from within the mine...[3]

Points of interest

The mine is a fairly complicated mass of tunnels until you figure out the pattern. The exterior is just four shacks with minor loot in them and a first aid box, plus an elevated bed for quick healing.

Inside, the first area is a staging room, with the adjacent lockers. To access them, players first need to navigate the flooded tunnels to find the steamer trunk and the key with a note next to it. The tunnels west lead to a collapsed section, which leads into the flooded area from the west. The mine shaft deposits the player at the bottom of the flooded tunnels. If in power armor, loading Aqua Boy is recommended for an infinite amount of air. To reach the cavern with the steamer trunk, from the mineshaft, players should proceed north through the tunnel, until they hit the back wall, then turn east through the winding small tunnel to reach the back chamber, which contains a lot of goodies including a power armor spawn at the dead end to the south, at the bottom of another mining elevator. Opposite the steamer trunk is the Kerwood mine key, which grants access through all the locked doors.

To leave, the door in the east can be accessed and then the eastern most tunnel taken, leading to the locker rooms and more importantly, the foreman's computer and safe.

Notable loot

Bobbleheads

Near a support strut and wooden crate (1), in a mine alcove before you descend into the water, close to a junction with an explosive canister (mine interior).

Near a support strut and ammo box, in a small dead-end alcove, southeast of the main mine tracks, just above the cave-in that blocks the track tunnel (mine interior).

Inside the "effluent hole", inside a green plastic outhouse, underwater on the metal platform, in the flooded cavern with the huge yellow extractor fan on the ceiling (mine interior).

Hidden with the wood crate, explosive canister, yellow crate trolley, and netted crates, close to an orange forklift, southwest of the red trunk, in the streamer trunk cavern (mine interior).

Magazines

On the earth by the toppled metal shelving, near a Nuka-Cola bottle and a large central metal and rock shaft column, close to a tool box in the junction cavern with the "Eye Protection" poster (cave interior).

On the left (northeast) side of the slag heap, near an explosive canister, in the waterlogged chamber linking the underwater area to the destroyed mine tracks (cave interior).

On a metal table with a lantern, by the explosive canisters, left of the red trunk, in the Junction Cavern (mine interior).

On the blue mainframe computer bank along the wall of the monitoring room with the locked double doors (key), accessed when leaving the mine, close to the fusion core generator (on the other side of the door).

Notes and holotapes

BoS Report - Kerwood: The holotape is inside the mine, in the staging area by the locked door, and is on a metal shelf.

Stop taking the key!: The note is in the northernmost chamber, near the steamer trunk and the key, through the flooded chambers.

Tools

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted.Game content and materials are trademarks and copyrights of their respective publisher and its licensors. All rights reserved.
This site is a part of Fandom, Inc. and is not affiliated with the game publisher.